2001 Biking South Africa

Day 24, Monday, July 9
Oudtshoorn to Ladismith
106.6km @ 14kph

We began the day with a radio interview, and are ending it in the scullery at the Ladismith caravan park. The wind is on the rampage, and as we are alone at the park we have taken, in self-defence, occupation of the scullery where there is a sign saying ‘Slegs Skottelgoed; Only Cutlery’. We’ve decided that if we sleep like spoons, we qualify. We had an exhilarating ride to Calitzdorp; a long slow tough afternoon negotiating the Huisrivier Pass; and a great run into Ladismith. There is a sprinkling of snow on the mountains behind us – and the hills through which we laboured today are red and green and tortured and lovely. We’ve done over 2000km – and have about 500km to go.

We slept 11 hours last night and arose to a beautiful wind-free morning. And on the road this morning we saw our first road sign to Cape Town: on the N1, 421km; on the N2, 472km – that’s us!

We started our day with a radio interview, met the editor of the Oudsthoorn Koerant, and the chairman of the Rotary Club (at the local garage) and then left town cycling on a flat stretch of road between two ranges of mountains, heading toward mountains while the moon still hung in the sky.

A child ran alongside us for awhile, keeping us gleeful company and the electric lines alongside us hummed their monotonous tune. We passed an unusual ostrich, creamy in colour, with black specks, standing cross-legged and proud in the veld. She looked as though she had dressed for a wedding.

We travelled a quiet R62 on a stunning day, with beautiful mountains ranged to the north, Omo-white clouds above, with the sun creeping over their tops.

We averaged 18kph to Calitzdorp, despite the wind coming up quite suddenly 14km outside town. Mom and dad brought us fresh muffins and pina colada on the road and in Calitzdorp we broke for toasted sarmies and tea at the Somewhere Café. We were joined there by Dennis from Hermanus, ex-jet pilot, and fietsryer extraordinaire.

At the 56km mark, shortly after leaving Calitzdorp, we began the climb up the Huisrivier Pass – or so we thought. We climbed 5km o so, a climb made daunting by the wind, and thought we had reached the top. Wrong! We dropped next down an amazing bit of road, to cross Huis Een (a river) and find a sign saying Huisrivier Pass! The pass dropped through a jumble of tortured, twisted, cliffy mountains coloured reddish, greenish, browny, orangey where we got a real sense of the earth’s upheaval. Huis Twee was followed by a moerse bult – another 5km bringing us to the top at 662m. The pass was opened in 1966.

We passed tiny, tiny birds, an entire flock, sitting in beautiful clumps of gold-green grass, barely bending the stalks as they landed; tiny, tiny, with a touch of red. When they take off they look more like giant insects – grasshoppers – than birds, truly petite.

And passed a huge field of aloes just as we came over the top of the pass and began our drop down the other side; with 30km still to go to Ladismith; the pass having dropped our averge from 18 to 14. With a strong headwind through the Seven Weeks Poort and on into the coloured town of Zoar (one of those missionary towns?) and a brightly painted dam on our left, and a bunch of kids cycling alongside us.

The road was not easy, but we were surrounded by peak-ed mountains in layers on our right and hills covered in aloes on our left, dams and farms, birdlife, the lowering sun shining through grasses – lovely.

Mom and dad met us 13km outside Ladismith with Coke and raisin bread and the news that we had 2km of uphill, and 11km of downhill – which proved to be almost true. The mountains around Ladismith were sprinkled with snow, but we were welcomed into town by a shitty smell on the air. We cycled past the snuffelwinkel and the begrafnis diens to the campsite where the wind forced us to take refuge in the scullery.

Dad mistakenly poured the whiskey into the gin, and mom had to decide between soda water and diet coke to round it off!